Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Office, Microsoft, Commercial

Windows Genuine Advantage becomes nagware, Office gets it too

Windows Genuine
AdvantageThis week we're getting a small preview of what Windows Vista's anti-piracy features will be like in the form of Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications, which Microsoft will begin testing this week. The software, which according to ZDNet will be downloaded via Windows Update for a random sample of users, will show users alerts "at startup, login and during their use of the operating system" if it thinks their copy of Windows is pirated. The alerts will say, "This copy of Windows is not genuine; you may be a victim of software counterfeiting." In addition, this week Microsoft will also begin testing Office Genuine Advantage, which will do for Office what WGA has done for Windows. Which, if memory serves, is absolutely nothing.